Fantasy theme gave a significant push for hobbys in one way or another connected with fencing and armor developing. Of course we can not ingnore this direction. In general, if you want to collect the most realistic fantasy armor - we are at your service! Especially since our armor has a nice design and you can create the necessary image with it.
Part of our armor elements are also suitable for HEMA. But in the future we plan to develop mittens, elbows, knees, etc specially for this direction. Part of our armor elements are also suitable for HEMA. But in the future we plan to develop specially for this discipline mittens, elbows, knees, etc. This direction of fencing is based on medieval fencing books (training books) and special very flexible and light swords are used here.
In fighting stylization, we first of all provide protection and convenience. When developing such armor, we combine the existing elements and parts of the medieval armor existing separately, but in close regions and time frames.
In historical reconstruction, we try to maximally repeat the geometry of the example artifact. The difficulty is that often both the example and the artifact are located far from us. Therefore, such work requires considerable skill.
The history of the chainmail
The history of chainmail is more than 2,000 years old. Its inventors are considered to be the Celtic tribes who lived in Europe and reached the Middle East. The Celtic chainmail looked like a sleeveless jacket with a wide cape-collar.
A piece of Celtic chainmail was found near Ciumesti (Romania). The rings of the fragments found were of three types – riveted, solid, and butted. Actually, these are all variants of rings for ringed armor, wherever they are made.
From the Celts, chainmail came to the Romans. The cut of the Roman chainmail – lorica hamata repeated the traditional antique armor with sleeveless shoulder straps.
Fragments of Roman chainmail were found in an ancient sanctuary at the Gurzuf saddle pass. The links were very different in diameter – from 3 to 12 mm. Most are 4 to 6 mm in diameter.
Lorica Hamata became the most massive armor of the legionnaires of the empire. It was worn by infantrymen and cavalrymen. Already in the first centuries of our era, chainmail spreads from Britain to the Middle East.
A unique option was a combination of chainmail and scales – Lorica Hamata Squamata. Bronze plates were woven into chainmail for reinforcement.
With the fall of Rome in the 5th century, chainmail was not forgotten, on the contrary, it was used by all barbarians who settled on the territory of the empire and beyond. The chainmail was very easy to manufacture, but the segmental armor was a thing of the past.
In the history of European armor, the “chainmail period” had begun, and it lasted right up to the 13th century. If we are talking about a warrior of this time, then in 90% of cases, it was chainmail that protected him. Of course, it was different in length and configuration.
The famous tapestry (second half of the 11th century) depicts the conquest of England by the Norman knights. For a long time, the armor depicted on it was interpreted as scales, lamellar, quilting, or even sewn chainmail.
Reconstructors of the 19th and 20th centuries drew versions of armor from chainmail rings sewn to the fabric with leather straps. Modern researchers deny the possibility of such armor. The main argument is that archaeologists have not found a single proof of its existence.
It was the chainmail – hauberk that protected the knights of the era of the Crusades. Gradually, it acquired a long sleeve, mittens, stockings, and a hood. Such a kit was relatively light – about 12 kg, did not restrict movement, and protected from the then weapons quite well.
Chainmail also prevailed in the East. Muslims sometimes covered chaininmail with cloth on both sides, sewing the armor into clothing. Probably, this was to protect the chainmail from overheating under the rays of the sun.
As for our ancestors, they used the same chainmail. In the 10-13th centuries, the word “chainmail” was not known, and the ringed armor was simply called “armor”. The closest neighbors of Rus also used mainly ringed armor.
Changes began in the 14th century in Western Europe. The appearance of plate armor – brigantines, and then other plate armor made it unnecessary to wear chainmail on the body.
Its fragments were sewn to the under-armor, thus combining movable protection in uncomfortable places with plate armor. Also, the chainmail was preserved in the form of a skirt to protect the groin and hips.
Often old chainmail was taken apart for the manufacture of individual inserts in a set of plate protection.
In the East, chainmail from flattened rings was also invented. If the flat rings were of a very large diameter, the armor was called baidan. The weaving of small flattened rings collected not by a rivet, but by a small thorn, is called plated.
By the 16th century, chainmail is still in use in Europe, but gradually occupies the niche of auxiliary or civilian armor. Chainmail is worn under clothes by duelists, hired killers, and law-abiding citizens. Such a body armor for the whole family.
More info in the video: